Title: That was Then, This is Now

By: S.E. Hinton

1. Who are Bryon and Mark?

Bryon is 16 and his nickname is Babyface and he is good at pool. He has big build and has dark hair and dark eyes. Mark is Bryon's best freind, infact they are like brothers since Mark has lived with Bryon and Bryon's mother since Mark was nine and his parents shot each other. He too is a poolshark. He has a small build, light hair and light eyes. They have never had a fight or even an argument.

2. Who are the two young people Bryon meets at the hospital?

The first person Bryon meets at the hospital is a girl working in the snackbar. At first he is not sure who she is and then he realizes it is M&M's older sister, Cathy. After they talk for a while he asks if she would want to get together some time. After he meets Cathy, the second person he comes across is a boy named Mike Chambers. He is a patient in the hospital across the hall from his mom. He is in the hospital because he got beat up by people he didn't even know because he gave a girl a ride home one night. Bryon and Mark were the only two visitors the boy ever had in the hospital.

3. What kind of relationship does Bryon have with Charlie?

Charlie is the bartender at Chalie's Bar. He is twenty- two and has the reputation of being a tough guy. He and Charlie have a good relationship. Charlie lets Bryon in the bar when he is under age and lets him buy his cokes on credit. Later in the story Charlie lets Bryon borrow his car to take Cathy to the dance on Saturdays.

4. What happens at the dance?

While Mark is outside at the dance, and Bryon and Cathy are inside, they hear screams from outside. When they go outside they see Mark trying to break up a fight between two guys. Next thing you know Mark gets cracked over the head by a beer bottle. Mark goes to the hospital and gets ten stitches in his head.

5. What does Bryon begin to discover in his private conversations with Mark?

Bryon begins to discover that although he and Mark have always been best friends and like brothers to each other, things seem to be changing. I think that is what the title means, That was Then, This is Now.

6. What happened to Charlie? How do Bryon and Mark feel about it?

After Mark and Bryon hustled two Texans at pool, the Texans left the bar. When Mark and Bryon left the bar, the Texans called them into the alley, One guy pulled out a gun and then they heard Charlie behind them tell them to drop the gun. As the boys turned to thank Charlie, one of the Texans grabbed the gun and shot it. Charlie jumped on the two boys to protect them and the Texans ran away. Charlie had been shot in the head and was dead. Bryon was very upset about Charlie. His friend put his life on the line for them. Mark was upset but not as upset as Bryon. Nether of them wanted to talk to anyone about it.

7. What do Mark and Cathy think of each other?

Mark and Cathy didn't really care for each other. They both wanted to spend a lot of time with Bryon and they were both jealous of how much time the other one was spending with Bryon.

8. What does Mark do to Angela? Why?

Mark and Bryon see Angela drunk one night and they pick her up and ask her if she wants to go to the lake. They go buy rum to get drunk and when Angela falls asleep at the lake, Mark cuts off all her long, black hair. Then they drop her off at her house. Mark did this to get back at Angela for getting him into a fight where she almost got him killed.

9. In Chapter 7, what does Bryon begin to realize about his good friend Mark?

Bryon realizes that he and Mark are becoming farther and farther apart from each other. Mark is making a lot of money somehow and even though Bryon and his mom wonder how he is getting it, they know they need the money, so they don't question him. They figure that he is stealing it or playing poker and winning it. They also don't spend much time together like they used to.

10. What happens to Bryon at Terry Jones' house? How does his attitude change?

Bryon goes to Terry Jone's house to look for Mark. When he gets there, Angela's brothers are there and they ask him if he cut off Angela's hair. He decides to tell the truth and then her brothers beat him up. He had to go to the hospital and get stitches in his face and get his broken ribs wrapped. He is really not that mad at them, just like Mike Chambers hadn't been mad at his attackers, because he said he is not going to be mad at people anymore and he is not going to try to get revenge on them.


11. In Chapter 9, what happens to M&M? Why does this move Bryon? In Chapter 9, Bryon finds M&M at the free lover's house, where he was having crazy visions because he had taken the drug LSD. He tries to jump out of a window. Thsi moves Bryon because he always thought he was a good kid and wouldn't take drugs. He thought of him as a good kid who was like a little brother to him.

12. What shocking discovery does Bryon make in Mark's bedroom? What does he do?
Bryon finds pills in Mark's bedroom under the mattress. He knows Mark wouldn't take drugs so he figures he is selling the pills. That is where he is getting the extra money. Bryon calls the cops and then talks to Mark ewhen he comes home.

13. How does Bryon's relationship with his friends and his attitude toward life change?
Bryon and Mark grow apart. He stops seeing Cathy as much as he used to and he doesn't hang around Mark as nmch anymore.

14. How does Bryon feel at the end of the book?
Bryon feels numb at the end of the book. He is not hanging out with anyone, he isn't dating girls and he is just focusing on work. He is disappointed in how his friendships turned out and what his friends have done and the choices they have made.

15. What do you think about this book and what life message did it teach?
I really liked this book, but I thought it was kind of sad all the bad things they went through. Life is hard and full of temptations to do the wrong things. I liked that Bryon stood up and did the right thing. That is the message I got from this book, make good choices and choose fiends who are doing the right thing.